Coloring-machine.



PA TENTBD APR. 19, 1904.

No. 757,554. v

' A. '0. HOUGH.

001.0 RING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 20, 1901. RENEWED FEB. 16. 190$.

K0 MODEL.

Farms 50.. mom-u ma 'UNITED STATES Patented April 19, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

AZEL O. HOUGH, OF SOUTH BUTLER, NEW YORK.

COLORING-MACHINE.

' SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 757,554, dated April 19, 1904.

Application filed D- To all whom it natty concern:

Be it known that I, A EL C. HOUGH, residing at South Butler, in the county of Wayne and State of New-York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Coloring- Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to coloring-machines designed especially for use in coloring or painting strips or splints of wood; but it is capable of use in a variety ofrelations.

The object of my invention is to provide a printing or coloring surface of novel construc-. tion and function.

Other objects and advantages of the inven- 7 tion will hereinafter appear, and the novel features thereof will be specifically defined in the claims at the end of this specification.

,The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings,which,with the characters of reference marked thereon, form a part of this specification, and in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of my machine as a whole, showing the receiving-table in position. Fig. 2 is a section taken online 2 2, Fig. 1, looking toward the rolls. Fig. 3 is a detail section of a portion of one of the coloring-rolls, showing the way in which I vary the outline of the periphery of the said roll. Fig. 4: is a sectional detail of a part of the troughs leading from the tank to the rolls, showing the manner in which the stream is divided. Fig. 5 is an additional detail.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

A tank A for holding the coloring material or dye is suitably supported upon uprights 1 1 or otherwise. Faucet B provides an outlet therefrom through which the coloring material passes to a trough 2, supported on a suitable bracket leading to a proper point to discharge the coloring-matter led thereby to the upper roll D of a pair or couple of coloringrolls D E, as shown. At the upper end of said trough 2 a fin or knife edge 3 is located at the center of the bottom of said trough, thereby furnishing means for dividing the stream into --.--.r. 20,1901. Renewed Februziryl5,1904. SerialNo.193,663. (N model.)

two parts. The fin is at its lower end bent transversely of the trough, as shown. On one side of said fin and just above the trans verse portion thereof an aperture 4 furnishes a passage from the trough 2 to a trough 5, supported on a suitable bracket in position to receive the coloring material which passes through the aperture 4:. This trough 5 leads to a suitable point to discharge upon the lower roll E. Rolls D and E are mounted upon shafts 7 and 8, which are supported in bearings in the uprights (t a on the framework. Spur-gear 9 upon shaft 7 meshes with spurgear 10 upon shaft 8, which shaft carries conepulley 11, driven by belt 12 from a pulley upon a driving-shaft 13, to which power is supplied from any desired source.

The framework of the machine comprises cross-pieces 14, uprights 15', side bars S, and

. such other parts as may be necessary in order to provide a suitable framework and which need not be further described herein. Holdersl6, connected to the side bars S, provide means for supporting the splints or strips to be colored in convenient proximity to the rolls. Drip-pans 17. are placed under the lower coloring-rolls. I have illustrated a machine in which there is a duplicate construction of rolls, one set on each end of thesupporting-shafts, with troughs for each set leading from opposite sides of the tank. It will be obvious, however, that any desired number of rolls could be supplied with coloring material from a single tank and that the number or exact position of my coloring-rolls is immaterial. There may be any desired number of sets on the same shaft, or each set may be supported by different shafts. I do not limit myself in this regard.

A mixing-blade Z) is supported in tank A- by shaft 0, which shaft is actuated to rotate the mixing-blade through bevel-gears cl 6, shaft f, and chains g, passing over suitable sprockets on shaft f and on driving-shaft 13.

The construction of the coloring-rolls, which forms the only feature of my invention claimed in this application, will now be more particularly described. Acore 18 of wood or otherwise surrounds the central shaft, and a winding of felt or other likematerial 19, adapted to hold and deposit color, forms the periphery of such roll. Headed tacks or brads 20 are driven through this outer felt covering at intervals, and the heads thereof are driven down well below the normal outer level of such felt covering, so that the face of the roll is of irregular outline, having various parts thereof held below the normal level. The result is that a splint passing between such rolls will have color deposited thereon in irregular spots, whereby a mottled appearance is given to such splint. It will be obvious'that the manner in which these rolls are mounted and driven is not material. I have simply illustrated conventional driving means, and it will be obvious that my invention as far as this is concerned could be embodied in a variety of ways. One of the rolls may be adjustably mounted to provide for variations in pressure, which may be accomplished by providing a pivoted support for such roll and means for adjustably holding said pivoted roll at any desired distance from the lower roll.

Upon the side of the coloring-rolls D and E upon which the splints or strips are'fed between the rolls I employ a flanged guide 24, (shown in detail in Fig. 5,) which has a longitudinal aperture 25 therein adapted to permit the splints or strips to be colored to pass therethrough and to be guided thereby in astraight course between the coloring-rolls. This guide is shown as flanged or having a flaring mouth for convenience in inserting the splints. Such flanged mouth is not essential, however, as it is only necessary in carrying out this part of the invention to provide a guide which shall restrain the strips to a proper right-line motion in passing between the rolls.

The irregular surface of the periphery of thecoloring-rolls, as before described, tends to prevent the splints or strips from passing through them in a straight course, and this guide tends to prevent any deviation from such straight course. This guide is also important for the further reason that when the longitudinal slot 25 is properly subdivided by pins 26 or otherwise it enables me to pass two or more splints or strips between the rolls at the same time without one interfering with or smudging the other. The use of such a guide, however, is optional, as the machine may be operated without any guide at all.

It is found in practice that in feeding through the rolls long pliable strips or splints, such as it is intended to use in connection with this machine, they tend to buckle back from the receiving-table, thereby clogging the rolls and interfering with the working thereof, as well as tending to destroy the effects of the work by rubbing ofi or smudging the color which has not yet fully dried upon the splints. To obviate this difficulty, I provide a receiving-table of novel form. Such a table is designated in a general way by F and comprises suitable supporting-legs-ll and has a top H, which is inclined or sloped transversely in a direction from rear to front of table, as shown in Fig. 1. With such construction the splints pass onto the inclined table and are dropped thence to suitable holders or a suitable carriage placed in front thereof, whence they may be removed. Such inclination of the table gives a free path for the advancing end of the slip, so that it has no tendency to buckle or bend back upon the rolls and provides an eificient means for receiving said splints from the rolls.

The operation and advantages of my machine, which will be in general apparent from the foregoing description, are briefly as follows: Color is supplied to the rolls from the tank A through troughs 2 and 5. The knifeblade and aperture in the upper trough furnish a convenient and efficient means for dividing the stream and leading it in proper proportions to each of the feed-rolls without necessitating any complicated arrangement of troughs for that purpose. The coloring material in the trough may be kept suitably agitated and mixed by the propeller or mixing blade. The operator takes a splint from the frame and feeds it between the rolls, through which it is further fed by the frictional contact between the two rolls, and in passing therethrough the splint is mottled or colored in conformity with the irregular outline given to the surfaces of the rolls, as will be readily understood. Where the flanged guide with the divisional pin is used, the operator takes two or more splints and passes them through the several openings in the guide 24 until they are caught between the coloring-rolls D and E, through which they are fed, as before. Thence it passes to the inclined side of the receiving-table and is dropped to the receptacle below out of the way of the following splint. It should be noted, moreover, that the depression of certain portions of the felt upon the periphery of the rollsin the manner indicated secures an artistic effect in the matter of the distribution of the coloring-matter upon the splint not possible where brass divisions are placed in the felt, as in constructions old in the art. A tack or brad driven in the felt causes a gradual depression about the same.

Around the head of the tack the depression is so great that no color is printed from that particular part of the felt; but at a distance from the head of the tack the felt gradually rises to the main level of the non-depressed felt. This gradual rise in the felt about the tack causes a shade of color to be printed of varying tone. The felt immediately beneath the head of the tack does not print at all. At a little distance farther from the tack it prints slightly. Still farther away it prints a darker tone, and so on darker and more plainly until such a point has been reached that the depression caused by each tack-head no longer aifects the face of the felt. At this point the felt prints the full tone of color used. In this way I am enabled to secure a shaded mottled effect which is pleasing to the eyes and avoids the trying effect upon the eyes which would be caused if the transitions from non-printed portions of the strip to printed portions were sharp and abrupt. Inasmuch as the splints which are colored in this machine are primarily designed to be used for decorative and ornamental purposes, this is an important advantage.

I have thus provided an efficient and simple machine for coloring long strips of wood rapidly and economically.

My coloring-roll is cheaply made, and inasmuch as it is simply a matter of removing and replacing tacks it can be readily changed so as to vary the impression given thereby. The

color-supplying means supplies the coloring matter regularly and without waste, and the discharge-table receives the splints and disposes of them without clogging the machine or smudging the freshly-colored strip.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,'is

1. A roll for use me coloring-machine, having the periphery thereof formed of felt and having tacks or brads driven therein at vari.

there is a gradual rise from the point of greatest depression to the point of normal level struction and arrangement being such that whereby a shaded effect is produced upon stock 5. A roll for use in a coloring-machine'hav- I ing its periphery formed of a suitable covering, and having portions of its periphery depressed, so that there is a gradual rise from the points of depression to the normal level,

whereby a shaded mottled effect is secured.

upon stock colored by such roll.

6. A roll for use in a coloring-machine having its periphery formed of suitable material, and having portions of said material depressed below the normal level thereof, the rise from the points of greatest depression to the points of normal level being gradual, whereby shades of color of varying tones will be produced upon stock colored by such roll.

7. A printing or coloring surface, for use in a coloring-machine, formed of suitable yield ing material and having portions of said material depressed so that there is a gradual rise from the points of depression to the normal level whereby a shaded or mottled effect is secured upon stock colored by such surface.

8. A printing-surface for use in a coloringmachine having a color-retaining face with portionsthereof depressed below the normal level of said face, both the normal level and thedepressed portions being arranged to print whereby a shaded effect is produced upon stock colored thereby.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

AZEL O. HOUGH.

Witnesses:

HOWARD C. MABcELLus, GEO. R. VVILLIAMs. 

